News

Posted: April 16, 2014

A record 19 Scots will take to the water at the home of the GB Rowing Team this weekend aiming to produce strong performances and put themselves in contention for a place at the World Rowing and World Rowing Under 23 Championships this summer. Following a winter of open assessments on the water and the ergometer, the GB Rowing Team Senior and Under 23 invitational trials at the Redgrave-Pinsent Rowing Lake in Caversham will see the country’s top oarsmen and women undertake a 1,900 metre time trial followed by seeded semi-finals and finals to produce a clear ranking across each of the four main disciplines.

2013 world champion in the women’s pair, Polly Swann, is one of seven Scottish openweight females hoping to make an impression on the selectors in a strong field which also includes Lossiemouth’s reigning Olympic champion Heather Stanning. British Army Captain Stanning has now returned to full-time training after a period away in Afghanistan and she partners her London 2012 crewmate Helen Glover. Swann, a former George Heriot’s School and Edinburgh University student who now represents Leander Club, teams up with London Rowing Club’s Jessica Eddie after spending 2013 in the pair with Glover.

Clydesdale’s Claire McKeown, a bronze medallist in the women’s eight at the 2012 European Championships, is paired with Michelle Vezie (Imperial College) with Edinburgh born duo Katherine Douglas (Leander Club) and Karen Bennett (Molesey Boat Club) teaming up with Michelle Pearson (Leander Club) and Pippa Burnham (Exeter University) respectively. Debutants at this level Georgina Grandfield (Edinburgh University) and Natalie Irvine (Strathclyde Park Rowing Club) make up the Scottish contingent.

Five Scots race in the men’s openweight division, which features 23 coxless pairs’ combinations and 30 scullers, including Olympians Andy Triggs Hodge, Pete Reed and Alan Campbell. Inverness born Alan Sinclair (Leander Club) will be looking to improve upon his third place finish from 2013 which led to him gaining a seat in the GB men’s coxless four at the 2013 World Rowing Championships in South Korea.

Aberdeen’s Lewis McCue (Robert Gordon University) and Edinburgh’s Callum McBrierty (Leander Club) were both part of the GB Rowing Team coxed four which raced at the World Rowing Under 23 Championships in Linz, Austria, in 2013 and they will be looking to enhance their reputations as leading Under 23 candidates when they take to the water with Frazier Christie (Bath University) and William Warr (Leander Club) respectively. Edinburgh University pair Graham Ord and Henry Millar will be looking to impress on their first appearance at GB final trials.

Scotland boasts a mix of experience and emerging talent in the lightweight categories with 2011 world champion in the coxless quad, Imogen Walsh (London Rowing Club), likely to be amongst the favourites to take the top spot. However the Inverness athlete will be pushed hard by London 2012 champion, Kat Copeland. Glasgow University’s Emma McDonald and Robert Gordon University’s Christie Duff should fare well in the highly competitive Under 23 lightweight category after impressing at a recent GB training weekend.

World bronze medallist in the lightweight coxless pair, Sam Scrimgeour (Imperial College), is Scotland’s leading hope in the lightweight men’s division. The Kirriemuir oarsman will face stiff competition from last season’s lightweight coxless four and double scull all of whom will be trialling in single sculls as will Ayrshire’s Donald Evans (Leander Club), who will be hoping to translate his powerful ergometer scores into boat speed on the water. Under 23 lightweights Kieran Brown, a GB international in 2012, and Tom Claxton complete an impressive squad of five Edinburgh University rowers taking part in the trials, an excellent return for Head Coach Colin Williamson in his first year in post.

Scottish Rowing High Performance Co-Ordinator, Lee Boucher, said:
“I’m delighted to see such a healthy number of Scottish athletes receiving invitations to these prestigious trials. In particular, having 10 Scottish based athletes making the long journey south, many for the first time at this level, justifies our sportscotland backed investment in our Under 23 performance programmes in Aberdeen, Edinburgh and Glasgow."

“On behalf of Scottish Rowing I’d like to wish all of our athletes and their coaching teams a successful weekend and I hope that this is the start of even more exciting times to come.”

Athletes competing in the GB Rowing Team Senior and Under 23 trials on 19/20 April at the Redgrave-Pinsent Rowing Lake in Caversham, near Reading, will be aiming for selection to the World Rowing Championships in Amsterdam, the Netherlands (24-31 August) and the World Rowing Under 23 Championships in Varese, Italy (23-27 July).

Scottish athletes invited to GB Rowing Team Senior / Under 23 Trials 2014

Heavyweight Men

Callum McBrierty (Leander Club)*
Lewis McCue (Robert Gordon University)*
Henry Millar (Edinburgh University)*
Graham Ord (Edinburgh University)*
Alan Sinclair (Leander Club)

Heavyweight Women

Karen Bennett (Molesey Boat Club)
Katherine Douglas (Leander Club)
Georgina Grandfield (Edinburgh University)
Natalie Irvine (Strathclyde Park Rowing Club)*
Claire McKeown (Clydesdale ARC)
Victoria Meyer-Laker (Leander Club)
Heather Stanning (Army Rowing Club)
Polly Swann (Leander Club)

Lightweight Men

Kieran Brown (Edinburgh University)*
Tom Claxton (Edinburgh University)*
Donald Evans (Leander Club)
Sam Scrimgeour (Imperial College)

Lightweight Women

Christie Duff (Robert Gordon University)*
Emma McDonald (Glasgow University)*
Imogen Walsh (London Rowing Club)

Key
Bold - Scottish Based
* - Under 23